Imagine every hospital visit, mental health counseling session, prescription, and lab test you’ve ever had flowing into a single, statewide government‑approved data hub—by default. That’s the future MS HB 534 is building for Mississippi.
MS HB 534 would create a statewide “Mississippi Health Information Exchange,” a centralized system where medical providers share patient records. On its surface, that sounds efficient. But look closer at how it works and who controls it.
First, participation is not voluntary. Every licensed hospital and community mental health center in Mississippi must connect to this exchange, transmit data, and participate in any bed‑availability program it offers—just to keep their license. If a hospital prefers a different, private information network, too bad. The state is picking one hub and ordering key providers to plug into it on the state’s terms.
Second, the bill creates a permanent, non‑lapsing special fund in the state treasury to subsidize this system. That fund can be filled with legislative appropriations and “other monies” to pay for connectivity, interfaces, cybersecurity, upgrades, and subscription fees. In plain English: a new, open‑ended subsidy program for a designated nonprofit operator and participating institutions, with no sunset and no hard cap.
Government spending is the real tax. A standing pot of money for a new statewide IT infrastructure practically guarantees higher long‑term health IT spending and more state entanglement in a market that should be driven by private innovation, not bureaucratic planning.
Supporters will say this is about “coordination” and “public health.” But coordination can be achieved through voluntary contracts and competitive services. This bill instead creates a state‑endorsed monopoly backbone for health data.
Consider what this means for liberty and privacy.
Your hospital and mental health center are required to send data into a state‑recognized exchange. The bill offers an opt‑out for patients, but in the real world that means you must know about the system, navigate the paperwork, and trust that every provider honors your choice. The default is your data flows in.
The Department of Health is granted broad access to the exchange’s data for “public health purposes.” It can also use and disclose de‑identified data for research and public reporting. While HIPAA still applies and the bill rightly exempts these records from the Public Records Act, centralizing a vast trove of sensitive health information under government oversight invites mission creep and abuse over time.
Ask yourself: if a future administration decides that certain health behaviors are “public health crises,” how tempting will it be to mine this database more aggressively? Once the pipes are laid and the money is flowing, the pressure will be to do more with the data, not less.
Mississippians deserve modern health care technology. But we also deserve choice, competition, and control over our own information. HB 534 chooses a top‑down, one‑size‑fits‑all approach: mandatory participation, expanded bureaucracy, and a permanent funding spigot.
Legislators should reject HB 534 and instead encourage voluntary, market‑driven data sharing that respects patient consent and fiscal restraint. Call your representatives and tell them to vote no on MS HB 534—and to stand for health care innovation without sacrificing liberty.
